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Friday, January 21, 2011

Awareness of the numerous applications of tablet computers is at an all time high, thanks in part to the Apple iPad launch. After close to a decade of negligible demand, the tablet market is finally starting to gain some mainstream user appeal.

So, what exactly do future owners say they plan to use a tablets for, once they get their hands on one? No, there's not an app for that, but there is a market study.

"Last year's small crop of tablets was being touted as potential e-readers; a way to compete against the extremely popular Amazon Kindle lineup," says Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.

Apparently, this next generation of tablets is clearly being marketed as consumer multimedia consumption devices -- positioned to compete squarely against the Apple iPad. Will they take away market share from the current leader? Only time will tell.

In-Stat's latest market study findings include:

- Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to reach over 58 million units in 2014.

- Nearly 55 percent of survey respondents that own tablets spend 9 hours or more using their tablet each week.